Trio of heating and ventilation controls are easy to use and clearly laid out

Speedometer can be hard to read for some drivers, but the revcounter is a model of clarity

Gearknob looks aluminium, but it's plastic. Seating position could be better

Four will find cabin comfortable, although there's no centre armrest in the rear

Performance is effortless over roads of all kinds, providing the kind of zest you'd expect from an Alfa

The Giulietta has excellent roadholding, and maintains good balance right to the limit

Progressive brakes complete a dynamic package that's Alfa's best in years

Ride is right up there with Golf and Focus in terms of compliance

On fast curves it proves satisfyingly easy to adjust the Giulietta's line with the throttle

The Giulietta doesn't turn in with quite the zeal of the Ford Focus

Glamorous design and great dynamics will help Alfa sell the Giulietta

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The Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s lineage is strong: Alfa Romeo’s 100 years have produced some truly magnificent cars, many pre-war when it was a high-end, blue-blooded marque.

Even the post-war period, when Alfa Romeo became a mid-market premium brand, saw some triumphs too. The company turned more affordable still with the standard-setting 1971 Alfasud, the Giulietta’s lineal ancestor that would be succeeded by the 33 (the highest selling Alfa ever), the 145/146 and the 147.

The Giulietta represents a better class of Alfa Romeo, and it's vastly better than the Mito.

The Giulietta name made its debut in 1954, on an exquisitely pretty coupé that was a precursor to the ’55 Giulietta saloon. This new Giulietta is a vital model for Alfa Romeo, whose annual global sales had sunk to little more than 100,000 units before the Mito supermini’s arrival, a financially unviable number.

And the Giulietta’s so-called Compact platform is equally crucial to Fiat Auto as a whole, as it is providing the basis for mid-market Fiats, Lancias, Chryslers, Dodges and numerous spin-off models. So it needs to be good. The Giulietta – and most of those siblings – will compete in the biggest segment in Europe and, if it succeeds, form the bedrock of Alfa’s business.

In contrast to the 147 that it replaced, the Giulietta is available as a five-door only, with a choice of three petrol engines and three diesels. A 118bhp 1.4-litre petrol starts the range, followed by an excellent 1.4-litre 168bhp MultiAir model and the 232bhp 1750 TBi Cloverleaf.

The common-rail diesel option – pioneered by Fiat – can be had in 104bhp 1.6-litre and 134bhp or 168bhp 2.0-litre forms. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard on all models, but some are available with Alfa's dual-clutch automatic transmission, badged 'TCT'.